Private messaging app Signal was restored to full functionality on Saturday after the platform experienced some downtime when it was flooded by waves of new users. This was due to many consumers deciding to use Signal after WhatsApp decided to introduce a monumental change in its privacy policy regarding the use of customer data.
As a property of Facebook, WhatsApp will now begin sharing users’ data with other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram as part of its updated privacy policy. With consumers increasingly alarmed over the unclear level of confidentiality of their data, downloads of the Signal app have reached an unprecedented high.
After being bombarded by an unforeseen surge of new users, Signal experienced technical glitches such as errors in certain chats. According to the company, such issues should be resolved in the next update of the app. Signal added that such technical difficulties have no effect on the security and confidentiality of customers’ chats.
Based in the Californian tech hub of Silicon Valley, Signal Foundation is a non-profit company that was founded in February 2018 by WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton. After selling WhatsApp to Facebook, Acton injected a starting capital of $50 million into Signal.
